ABSTRACT

Mary Delany (1700-1788) is most famous for her “paper mosaicks”, a collection of botanically accurate flower collages that are now held by the British Museum. These collages lie at the intersection of art and science, feminine accomplishment and Enlightenment and were the culmination of a life spent engaging with these topics. Yet often the importance of Delany’s earlier creative and intellectual output goes ignored. With much of this work now lost, this article utilises the extensive collection of Delany’s correspondence to recover her earlier activities and seeks to situate them within her lifelong interest in the Enlightenment. Focusing on the period that Delany lived in Ireland, 1744-1767, it examines the importance of this time in the development of her creative practices. It was at Delville, her home in Glasnevin, County Dublin, that her creative and intellectual activities flourished with her new situation nurturing her interests. Concentrating on Delany’s shellwork and collections, this article explores how she utilised the creative arts to engage with natural history, and how her creative practices became an important part of the construction of an Enlightenment identity. Ultimately, her creative arts served as a means of practicing scientific Enlightenment ideas through an engagement with creative media.

摘要

玛丽·德拉尼（Mary Delany，1700-1788 年）以其“纸质马赛克”而闻名，这是一系列植物学上准确的花卉拼贴画，现由大英博物馆收藏。这些拼贴画处于艺术与科学、女性成就与启蒙运动的交叉点，是一生致力于这些主题的巅峰之作。然而，德拉尼早期的创造性和智力成果的重要性常常被忽视。由于这项工作的大部分现已丢失，本文利用德拉尼的大量信件收集来恢复她早期的活动，并试图将它们置于她对启蒙运动的终生兴趣中。本书重点关注德拉尼在爱尔兰生活的时期（1744 年至 1767 年），探讨了这段时期对她创作实践发展的重要性。那是在德尔维尔，她位于都柏林郡格拉斯内文的家，随着她的新环境培养了她的兴趣，她的创造性和智力活动蓬勃发展。本文重点关注德拉尼的贝壳作品和收藏，探讨她如何利用创意艺术与自然历史接触，以及她的创意实践如何成为启蒙运动身份构建的重要组成部分。最终，她的创意艺术成为通过与创意媒体的接触来实践科学启蒙思想的一种手段。